Market history · Central banks ·
The Fed starts its fastest tightening in decades
On 16 March 2022 the Federal Reserve raised its target range for the federal funds rate to 0.25–0.50%, its first rise since 2018, and said it anticipated that ongoing increases would be appropriate. James Bullard dissented, preferring a half-point rise.
The move followed a year in which inflation had stopped looking transitory. Over the rest of 2022 the Fed raised rates at every meeting, with several three-quarter-point steps, and the effect on both bonds and equities is the subject of other pieces in this archive.
The takeaway
The first rate rise is rarely the one that hurts; the pace of what follows is.
This is a retrospective about a past event, provided for general information. It is not investment advice, does not describe RockLake's positioning at the time, and past performance is not a guide to future performance. Read the risk warning.